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To: restornu

Bob Murray is 67, born in 1940.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Murray

Prayers for the miners.


200 posted on 08/16/2007 8:41:37 PM PDT by Alice in Wonderland (www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFsiZ2l2K5U)
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Wikipedia take it for what it worth and you don’t know if the Unions are editing some of these things!

Mining safety
Murray Energy’s mines have been cited by the Mine Safety and Health Administration for thousands of safety violations and fined millions of dollars.[11] Since 2005, Murray Energy’s Galatia mine in Saline County, Illinois has incurred over 2,700 citations and $2.4 million in proposed fines. However, a spokesman for the United Mining Workers organization said of Murray’s record, “[G]enerally speaking, it’s not particularly better or particularly worse than any other mine operator in the country.”[4]

The Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah has received 64 violations and $12,000 in fines, which is a relatively good safety record and on par with similar-sized mines throughout the country.[3][12][10] Murray says that the safety violations were trivial and included violations such as not having enough toilet paper in the restroom.[3] Although retreat mining is believed by some observers to be a cause of the mine’s 2007 collapse, Murray insists the process was not responsible.[13]

[edit] Political activity
In addition to serving on the board of directors of the National Mining Association, Murray actively lobbies for pro-industry legislation through his company’s Political Action Committee. In 2001, he testified on behalf of the NMA before a House Ways and Means subcommittee in favor of proposed tax cuts.

Since 2005, the Murray Energy PAC has donated over $150,000 to Republican candidates, including donations totaling $30,000 to Senate candidates such as George Allen, Sam Brownback, and Katherine Harris.[14] The Ohio Valley Coal PAC, another group affiliated with Murray Energy, donated $10,000 for George W. Bush’s 2000 Presidential campaign.[14]

In the wake of 2006’s Sago Mine disaster, lawmakers in West Virginia and Ohio proposed legislation requiring mine workers to wear emergency tracking devices. Murray lobbied against the laws, calling them “extremely misguided.”[10] He said that politicians were rushing to pass laws and thus “playing politics with the safety of my employees.” He said that rather than create “knee-jerk” state laws after the disaster, such as in the case of West Virginia, which passed the law in less than one day after it was proposed, the federal government should host a panel which would study the industry and make recommendations for safety measures.[1] He claimed that the federal government should be involved for uniform standards and because tension between unions and companies created difficulty in reaching private agreement on safety standards. Murray maintained that the personal tracking devices to be mandated in the state laws, called PEDs, did not work under certain common mining conditions (such as below 600 feet in depth), and better devices needed to be developed in order to effectively guard miners in case of accident. He said, “The will is there. Unfortunately, the technology isn’t.”[1] Murray said that he supported federal mandates for drug testing and fire prevention.[1] Murray said in 2006, “I worked in the mines for 10 years. No pound of coal is worth a man getting hurt over.... The day I think I’m more important than the person that mines the coal, that’s the day I should retire. But I don’t intend to.”[1]


225 posted on 08/16/2007 8:48:35 PM PDT by restornu (Teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves ~ Joseph Smith)
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